Dominion's End

V2C3: Red as Blood, Dazzling as Flowers

Dominion's End Volume 2: Aberrant City

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

Chapter 3: Red as Blood, Dazzling as Flowers—translated by Elkin (proofread by EvlNabiki & Arcedemius; C/E edited by lucathia)

Today was the third day after Dàgē's departure. These past few days, I had left Yunqian's training to Shujun, wanting to get the ice spear to a somewhat usable state as soon as possible.

This new weapon had to last me a good three to five years, so I took it very seriously. Every layer of ice crystals was compressed into a very fine layer, and that meant that I had to expend even more effort. Thankfully, I was more powerful than before, so I was able to compress more layers each time. Judging from the progress, it would probably take me around a month—oh wait, there's a spearhead as well this time, so that would add another ten days to the count.

Dàgē had wanted to go to Zhongguan City while I stayed behind to mind the house, and since I needed to craft my spear and all, everything worked out just fine.

But what about afterwards? I can't keep watching the house every time, right? Even if I keep getting my share of crystals, I'll miss out on actual combat experience, which is a no go.

But we'll need someone to mind the house. What a headache...

"Èrgē, it's time for dinner!" Shujun poked her head in and looked curiously at the ice spear, giving an admiring sigh. "Your long spear is becoming prettier and prettier!"

Yes, no matter how fugly it was, it would still look presentable when wrapped in layers of compressed ice. And this time, I had made sure to compress it extra well, so the clear ice had turned a little milky white, which was perfect for concealing the true nature of the spear—that of a broken knife tied to a broomstick handle.

I stood up and followed my sister, carrying the ice spear with me.

"Èrgē, why are you bringing it to dinner?"

I looked down at the spear, replying, "I kind of got used to carrying it around. And the cold feels pretty nice."

It was now September, and the weather was still fairly hot. This was pretty similar to what had happened in my previous life. Global temperatures started fluctuating more dramatically. As time wore on, the temperature differences would only grow more and more extreme, to the point where the four seasons were so clearly delineated that even a visitor from another universe could tell which season it was the moment they stepped into this universe. Thankfully, the temperature differences would stabilize five years into the apocalypse; otherwise, it would get to the stage where even aberrants wouldn't be able to survive, much less humans.

In the days to come, spring would herald an explosion of life and all sorts of aberrants would start evolving like crazy, particularly the plants. During this period, it was best not to leave the city; that said, however, the bounty was rich if you did. Summers would be so hot that you could die from dehydration. No small number of people had died in fights over a mouthful of water. Autumn was a good season. You could survive just on the fruits you picked. As for winter, it was fairly obvious that it was the season with the greatest number of deaths each year.

"It's been pretty hot recently."

The two of us headed to the living room together. Shujun seemed to think of something, and she asked worriedly, "Èrgē, with your ice powers, does it mean you're afraid of the heat? Maybe I should switch on the air conditioning?"

The small electric generator wasn't quite enough to supply electricity to the whole house, so we never really switched on the air con in the house.